DmC: Devil May Cry

DmC: Devil May Cry is an upcoming video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The game will be a reboot, and will not connect with the events that occured in the numbered games.

Initial Reception
The initial trailer had an overwhelmingly negative reception, primarily for the drastic redesign of Dante. Apart from altered clothes, weapons, and a sadistic streak, the new 'Dante' featured in the TGS 2010 trailer had primarily black hair with a tuft of white on top, red eyes, and a leaner, gaunter build as compared to the classic Dante. Concerns were also voiced about this version of Dante apparently having acquired a smoking habit, in contrast to the old Dante who its creator, Hideki Kamiya, deemed "too cool to smoke". The new 'Dante' in fact looked so different from the previous games that fans are still divided as to whether to consider this the original Dante or someone else with the same name. It should be noted, however, that Capcom handed down directives to Ninja Theory, especially about Dante's new look. Originally, Ninja Theory's redesign was still somewhat similar to the "classic Dante," but Capcom told them to keep going further away from that design to something new.

Ninja Theory confirmed that they will use the Unreal Engine for the new game and not the MT Framework of Capcom (used for Devil May Cry 4), as this game places an emphasis on the environment's animations in contrast to the other games' mostly static worlds. The use of a different, "less-powerful" engine again sparked outrage from certain fans, citing that its use of a locked 30 frames per second would diminish the stylish, fast-paced gameplay the series was known for. Other fans stated that with a lower framerate, split-second inputs like Just Guards would no longer be possible, and therefore diminish the skill required to play the game at a "pro" level, using glitches and certain cancels to achieve high Style scores. The locked framerate was to accommodate for more than just the characters moving about, as the environment itself will change quickly, and without warning, during gameplay. With so much moving onscreen at once, running on 60 fps would incur undesirable slow-down, so the decision to lower the framerate had to be made. Capcom stated they were working closely with Ninja Theory in order to try to give it the feel and speed of a 60 fps Devil May Cry.

Development & Tweaked Mechanics
In the E3 2011 trailer shown after a year of silence, the new Dante transforms to a state which is thought to be this universe's form of Devil Trigger, although it more closely resembles the Quicksilver style. The state seemed to reduce gravity as it threw enemies helplessly into the air, and changed Dante's hair and clothing color. The trailer revealed other aspects such as finishing moves and close-ups similar to Ninja Theory's previous game Enslaved. The trailer also showed off some slight changes to Dante's design, like a longer coat, a less gaunt physique, and a different haircut.

At Gamescom 2011, a new gameplay teaser was released. It showed that Dante can transform his sword Rebellion into an axe (Arbiter), a scythe (Osiris), and a spine-like grappling hook that works much like Nero's Snatch ability, with several more weapons promised in the final game. It was also revealed that in this universe Dante is both half-demon and half-angel, instead of being a demon/human hybrid.



Because of this change in lineage, game mechanics were also changed and opened up slightly: there will be three modes available during combat, "angel," "demon," and "normal". "Angel" and "demon" modes are activated by holding one of the trigger buttons, which then allow different functions of the normal face buttons to be used; attack with a normal sword move while holding in the "Angel" trigger performs a scythe attack instead. There will be a variety of angelic and demonic weapons available for Dante, the scythe being one of the angelic weapons, and a battle axe one of the demonic. There will also be two different sets of pistols, one of which was confirmed to be named Ebony & Ivory.

With Dante's weapons and utilities changeable on the fly, creative combination attacks will be easier to string together. There will be a bigger emphasis on the aerial combat as well, juggling enemies defenselessly in the air as players string together long and varied combos. Dante's Devil Trigger-like ability also plays off the new aerial combat, which launches all enemies into the air, where he can attack them all defenselessly for as long as necessary, although it will end when he sets foot on the ground.

The game also has a much heavier emphasis on the environment, with a preview from a released video entitled "The Fight" showing that the city itself is one of Dante's greatest adversaries. At one point a CCTV camera sees him within the city limits, and Dante is pulled into Limbo, where demons attack fiercely and the world itself is no longer safe. With roads giving way to nothingness, and alleyways closing off, Dante must fight not only the demons that appear, but also to escape Limbo. One of the easiest ways to do so is by destroying the CCTV cameras that prevent progress, as well as alerting demons. Other times, Dante will be forced to traverse through the twisted city in order to escape, only to have his exits cut off or moved just out of reach, such as shown in the video "The Escape."

Aside from showing off Dante's Quicksilver-like ability to force enemies frozen into the air, whilst his hair turns white and his coat blood red, trailers also showed more gameplay mechanics, such as pulling the demonized CCTV cameras from their sockets to defeat them, and using his twin pistols to fire magic bullets that ricochet off countless enemies. Upon a closer look of the combat, the game seems to still use a time-based input mechanic for combos. For instance, during an assault on a demon with his scythe, Dante delayed his next input mid-combo, where a white glint flashed along the weapon itself, performing a different attack than what he had normally done so before at other times. This keeps in line with all the past Devil May Cry games, instead of the "dial-a-combo" mechanic that was feared to take precedence because of its use in Ninja Theory's past titles.



As more footage and screenshots are released, the game itself divulges more of the past mechanics that are returning, or coming back in different ways. Fans worried over videos that showed enemies defeated without relinquishing Red Orbs, and the lack of any sort of "Style" meter to gauge the player's proficiency in any given battle. Luckily, Red Orbs have been shown in "The Fight" gameplay video to fly towards Dante after he defeats enemies, just as usual. Along with an improved Style-meter akin to the other games that lists a score along with the moves incorporated into the combos, the music itself will begin as a slight background beat, becoming more and more prominent, bringing in guitar riffs and even vocals as the player's performance reaches a higher grade, just as the older system would reach from D up to A and even SSS. Similar to the third and fourth installments in the main series, the Style meter in DmC will retain the currently highest full rank the player has reached until the battle is over, or he is struck by an attack. The music itself still carries with it a flare for the grunge/metal genre that has become ubiquitous with Devil May Cry's soundtracks, with the aggrotech song "Never Surrender " by Combichrist being used for the background combat theme in "The Fight" trailer. The front man for Combichrist will also be working on the rest of the game's soundtrack.

Trailers